Hi. My name is Jamie and I have an addiction to canning.
There I said it. I am OBSESSED with canning.
One of my foodie new year’s resolutions was to can more of my own food. Jelly, jam, marmalade, tomatoes, chili’s, peppers, corn, etc. It’s a great way to save money on groceries as well as on gifts next Christmas, and there is something incredibly rewarding about canning your own food. Both of my grandmothers were amazing at canning! And most of what they canned came from their own yard. That is amazing to me. Talk about being a good steward of what you have!!
So, last weekend I made up a batch of grapefruit jelly. Why grapefruit you might ask? Well, it’s in season right now and it comes from my homeland: TEXAS. If you can’t find good grapefruit where you live, consider buying from South Texas Organics. They ship all over the country and seriously folks, you can’t get any better than Rio Star grapefruit from the valley of Texas!
I’m still learning about canning. There’s quite a science to the whole process!
What I know so far is this:
1. Use clean, sterilized jars.
2. Don’t boil the lids. DO warm them up in a warm water bath so that the seal is loose.
3. Leave 1/2 inch of head room at the top of the jar when you fill them. Helps with the processing.
4. If you don’t have a water bath for canning, use a big pot with a towel in the bottom. You don’t want the glass to touch the bottom of the pot.
5. When processing in a water bath, water should cover the tops of the jars by about 1-2 inches. I have boiling water in a tea kettle on hand, in case I need more water.
6. In order to can according to USFDA regulations, take the jars out of the water bath after the processing is finished and let rest at room temperature. I learned that (and much more) in this great article: Home Canning, BPA Free
I have also learned a lot from some amazing canning blogs. Check these out!
1. Food In Jars
2. Put Up or Shut Up
3. Pick Your Own
4. A Gardener’s Table
5. Canning Across America
So, back to my grapefruit jelly. This recipe was pretty easy. Start with a lot of grapefruits (about 6), and juice them. I LOVE my KitchenAid food processor juicer attachment for this job! So quick and easy!
Then you strain the juice through a fine sieve to get out all the little seeds and most of the pulp. You should have about 3 1/2 to 4 cups.
Then you pour it in a big pot with 1/4 cup lemon juice and 7 cups of sugar.
Bring it to a rolling boil and let it boil for 1 minute.
Take it off the heat, quickly skim off the foam and stir in 2- 3 oz. packages of liquid pectin. I also squeezed in about 6 drops of red food coloring.
Ladle the jelly into jelly jars. Wipe the rims. Lid and seal with rings. Process in a water bath for 5 minutes.
With the fancy italian jars that I used, it made 7 jars- (each jar 8 oz.).
Happy Canning Y’all!
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